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Monday, May 25, 2015

In the last installment we went over the Assault Objectives for Armada - when to choose them, and how you should construct and command your list if playing with the objective. Now we are going to go over the Defense Objectives in much the same way. Don't worry, Navigation is still to come.

Hyperspace Assault:

In this objective, the second player sets aside one ship and up to 3 fighter squadrons before either side begin deployment. He then puts three objective tokens down. Deployment begins as usual. Then, starting in the 2nd round, the second player may at the beginning of the round choose an objective token and deploy the ship he set aside within R1 of the token, or he can choose to move those tokens to within R1 of their position.

Second Player:

You have a ship and some squadrons that would be immensely improved by being in the rear arc of the enemy formation. You have a desire to give up a turn or two of combat for your ships and continuity of your formation to have positional advantage with one of them. You want one ship that can do an exceptional amount of damage from that position, and some good squadrons to go along for the ride. With this build, you are looking for an Alpha Strike - a sudden burst of damage that should leave at least one opponent crippled or otherwise out of the fight. But you need to also keep the opponent honest - if your entire threat is tied up in hyperspace, why wouldn't your opponent race forward and engage your weaker, already deployed group? A good option for this is a Yavaris with Raymus Antilles and a B-Wing escort.

First Player:

Your opponent is splitting their forces. This is a good thing. Your opponent will have ships that will be outflanking you. This is a bad thing. First and foremost, use your squadrons or another ship to screen the likely points that the opponent will jump in. You know when they will have to jump (beginning of the round) and where they can jump (3 objective points) so a few squadrons to keep the opponents fighters tied up should be all you really need. Attaching those squadrons to a ship with a squadron command coming up just makes it easier to send a quick response to wherever the threat comes from the turn it does show up. Remember, you get to activate first, so you can always get at least one ship out of harms way. Make sure only one ship is in the killing zone for the jump in, and you can ensure you can always get away.

Again, they split their forces. That means you can have a lot more guns, all pointed at whatever they left behind. Make them regret that.

Both Players:

Remember that the second player jumps in at the start of the round, and then the first player gets the first activation. Also that any upgrade (including Commander abilities) on the Hyperspace ship do not affect the rest of the fleet.

Fleet Ambush:

If Hyperspace Ambush split of the second players forces for positional advantage, Fleet Ambush splits up the first players forces for... no advantage at all. During deployment, all space beyond distance 5 is considered to "Ambush Zone". Both players (including the Second Player) deploy their ships first. The First Player, starting with his first ship, must deploy odd numbered ships into the ambush zone, and even numbered ships into the deployment zone.

Second Player:

I can't really think of a reason not to try and get a free round of shots of on a ship (or two) that had to deploy close to your edge of the board. You want to capitalize on your opponent being forced to split their forces, if only for a turn or two. Good for ships that can maximize their engagement distance, and can engage their opponents right from the first round of combat.

First Player:

You want ships that can stall for time, either by pointing themselves away from the battle, and looping back in, or sitting in place and tanking while your support joins the fight. Chose this objective if you are built for a brawl, and are pretty sure you'll be the one on top if it comes to it. Ships like the MC80 and Assault Frigate, that can deploy facing sideways are perfect for this objective.

Both Players:

I cannot really think of a combination of builds where both players go to this objective and didn't wind up in a tussle in the middle of the map with a lot of dice. Plan accordingly.

Contested Outpost:

The key to Contested Outpost is that you are fighting over the station obstacle token, with your total command value. This is good for builds with a lot of command value, and who can manage a brawl, because all ships will be converging on that once piece of real estate. "Each player sums the command values of his ships at distance 1 of the station. The player with the highest total gains 1 victory token." 20 points per turn you have the most Command Value at the station.

Second Player:

You have a brawling list, with lots of high command ships. This can work well for the ship heavy / squadron light builds, as squadrons really don't do anything for the victory tokens, though it can also work with Squadron Heavy if you cluster them all on top of the station. It's a good idea to have a fast ship to grab the Outpost on Turn 1, and have the rest of your fleet arrive to hold it on the following turns. You get to place the station, so use the other obstacles to your advantage to cut off potential lines toward the objective.

First Player:

Again, a brawler list with high command and a high ship to squadron ratio will help you hold the station, and a squadron heavy list can let you punish anyone who gets on top of the station. Because the second player gets to place the station, use your obstacles to limit where the station will be placed - if you put an obstacle down, the station cannot go within R1 of it. So if you see your opponent set up an obvious place with their obstacles, drop one of your own. Finally, since you know where your oppenent is going to go, and wants to be, try to outflank him on T2/T3. If you can drop one of his high value ships and shift the command advantage in your favor, the game is yours.

Both Players:

Obstacles are going to be key. Don't be so bogged down with claiming the station that you get yourself into an unsustainable position. Remember, those high command value ships you have? They are worth more than 20 points.

Fire Lanes:

This is a lot like Contested Outpost, only instead of command values, it deals with battery armament from ships. Whoever has the most on each of 3 objectives gains 15 points. This build again favors a ship heavy build, as squadrons don't add anything to the victory token gathering.

Second Player:

This objective favors a build with lots of dice - even if your ship isn't maneuverable, you know exactly where these objectives are going to be, and where your opponents will go to claim those objectives. You need to build to be able to reasonably claim 2 / 3 fire lanes every turn, giving you 30 points to 15 points or a 90 point advantage in the end game. You can set up your objective token in two different ways - clustered together or split apart. This could be built in different ways - clustering the tokens would lead to sending overwhelming firepower to that location, while splitting them up would make more sense if you believe that you could manage enough forces in all locations, or at least 2/3. A single cheap ship near an uncontested token could give you 90 points all by itself at the end of the game - worthwhile if you know your opponent cannot split his forces at all.

First Player:

It is all incumbent on the Second Player's build - do they look like they will be more likely to mass their forces, or split into groups, and do you have a good chance of dealing with that setup.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Armada's Objective system is the most defining feature of the game, coming from the world of "100pt build, 75 minute rounds" X-Wing Tournaments. It makes the game more than just an increase in the scope of combat, from small snubfighters nimbly dogfighting, to large capital ships engaging one another across vast distances of space. It changes the fundamental building of the game from; "Will I be able to destroy the enemy's ships with this build?" into "Will I be able to do enough damage to the enemy and meet my objective."

But with that said, it just isn't being talked about enough. There is a lot of discussion on how certain builds will do certain things (blow up other ships) well, but very little being discussed about the other aspect - objectives and how to play around them. Furthermore, objectives have two sides - on one hand you have the "Second Player", who knows one of three objectives that they selected will be used, usually giving them a significant advantage for going second. On the other hand, the "First Player" who must chose from his opponents objective, playing their game effectively, and suffers a disadvantage in order to act first. I'm going to cover a few topics related to these objectives, from the point of view of both sides. For this, the first installment, I am going to cover the Assault Objectives.

Opening Salvo:

This objective has two key features. The first, allowing each player to roll 2 extra dice to open up the first exchange of shots (2 Red for first player; 2 of any color, at any rage for the second player). The second is a direct change to the way scores are tallied, adding half fleet cost of each damaged ship (has a damage card). This gives an advantage to players that are able to damage, but not destroy outright, their opponents. Note that this does not affect squadrons, just ships.

Second Player:

The second player would chose this to give them an advantage if they have several ships with a high squadron to ship ratio or with a large number of inexpensive ships. It also has synergy for them with ships that have critical effect upgrades - since they can add whatever dice they want at whatever range, they can add the correct colors to ensure that their salvo has a chance to inflict the correct critical effect. Consider an opening salvo with Admiral Screed and a Gladiator with Assault Concussion Missiles - Screed can guarantee a Black Critical Effect, which adds 2 extra damage... and all at Red range. It even works without these abilities. Go Blue and have a better chance of preventing key defense tokens from being used on the initial attack, or go Black for better damage outcome.

First Player:

Aside from the obvious reason to pick the objective (everything else is far, far worse) why would you give that advantage to the second player? Your best bet for picking this objective is if your build is high in shields, and high Engineering Values on your ships. The extra points at the end of the game mean that you can get away with damaging an enemy even if you don't finish it off, so structure your engagements in that fashion. Like second player, your build is benefited most if you have a lot of inexpensive ships, and a high squadron to ship ratio. Unlike the second player, you don't have the benefit of any critical effect synergy, or the ability to use anything but Red dice (5/8 chance to hit, 3/4 average damage), though Salvation gets a murderous first shot. You do get first activation so you can choose which ship would most benefit from the very first opening salvo.

Both Players:

Squadron superiority and Engineering commands are key for this game. BOMBERS or even just a spare squadron can keep ships honest, hitting unshielded arcs and claiming 1/2 points for the end game. Ships that are capable of repairing hull damage (engineering 3 or better) are also key, being able to deny opponents their points even after they score a blow or two past your shields and fly away. Throttle up - hit the opponent hard enough to draw blood and get away before they can crack through your shields and tokens. Don't be afraid to ram an enemy medium or large ship with a smaller ship, or an already damaged ship on late turns to get some free points at the end game.

Advanced Gunnery:

This objective has two key features as well. First is the ability for players to fire out of the same hull zone more than once in a single turn, with the second player being able to target the same target both times. The second is the fleet cost of the objective ships destroyed being doubled (just the ship, not upgrade cards). This gives advantage to upgrade heavy ships, high hull / defensive ships, and ships capable of taking advantage of the double arc shot.

Second Player:

The obvious option for this is Admiral Motti and Victory Star Destoryers (II), but the Rebel faction can make use of the Assault Frigates broadside capabilities as well. With Wave 2, the MC80 and ISD become the new prime recipients of this objective. The key is to bring a force that will be able to focus down your opponents ships, while providing enough defense for your own to keep your objective ship alive. You don't want to even let a Nebulon B near this objective, much less a Corvette, as they just don't have the staying power - no matter how tempting Salvation is. Squadrons are also good here - they are still worth their base points and not doubled, so utilize them to soften up a target before double-shooting it. The key here is you don't want to make an objective ship of anything that can be destroyed easily.

First Player:

Any medium or large ship without Gunnery Team is upgraded by this objective - even ships with Gunnery Team can benefit, as they can now double shoot the same ship if they can hit two different arcs. Again, anything that helps with survivability of the objective ship is key (Motti / Defensive Retrofits). Maneuvering defensively with your first activation may be necessary, especially if the last maneuver of an enemy put you dead-to-rights in the "good" arcs. Squadrons or rather anti-squadron dice could be a benefit with this setup, since you can try to get your point advantage tanking with your ships and stripping the enemies fighter screen out of the sky, though this is a common objective choice for Squadron-less builds.

Both Players:

The two main ways to approach this objective are a close range slugfest or long range duel, based on the objective ships. Make sure you can identify which the opponent is going for, and react accordingly.

Most Wanted:

In this objective, the second player chooses, after deployment, one ship from each side. This ship gets an extra dice thrown at it whenever it is attackedattacked by ships. (Late Edit Note: Squadrons do nothing per FAQ errata). Also, just that ship has it's ship cost doubled at the end of the game, but not any upgrade cards equipped.

Second Player:

If you are playing this objective, you should have an objective ship already built in mind specifically for this run, and there is really only one effective way to approach it. Make something cheep and fast, and try to keep it away from the fight (Corvette B at 39 points naked), or make something that can take a few hits, but will be hanging way back at the outskirts of the battle (Assault Frigate set up with boosted comms). Consider making the ship in question your flagship, since upgrades don't matter for bonus points. Also select the biggest, nastiest thing your opponent has, that you'll actually be able to shoot at.

First Player:

Much as with Advanced Gunnery, pick this if you think you will be able to tank / evade no matter what your opponent chooses as your objective ship. You cannot chose which of your ships the objective will be, so you cannot have an obvious target. Because your opponent likely built their list around keeping their Wanted Ship safe, only go for it if you are certain it is a viable option. Either your opponent has ceded local superiority to you (they went the corvette evade route) or they are going to try and mix things up. If the former, focus on keeping your objective ship safe with screens and defenses, and work on picking up other points as the opponent presents them. If the later, engage their ship if practical, but don't be afraid to pick up easier points elsewhere. Because you go first, you have an advantage with moving your objective ship out of enemy arcs, or hitting their objective ship first if they drop it somewhere it has no business being. Having last activation is especially good here, as you can drop a ship by their objective ship, and shoot it before it can run away.

Both Players:

Be ready to bug out with your objective ship if you need to do so. A saved maneuver token or timely command can get your the sudden speed or yaw you need to get out of harms way, or even present a better arc (with full shields). Engineering will only do so good when facing an extra dice of damage every attack thrown your way, but every little bit helps.

Precision Strike:

Finally we get to an objective that involves victory tokens, and not just extra points for destroyed ships. The key points of this objective is that Second Player gets a free Concentrate Fire token for all of their ships, and all ships and BOMBER squadrons can spend a dice with a hit symbol on it to flip a facedown damage card faceup (once per attack). Finally, after a ship or squadron performs an attack, the attacker gains 1 victory token for each damage card dealt faceup or flipped faceup during that attack. This is the "obviously Rebel" objective, as they have more fighters with the BOMBER keyword, and make less use out of alternative critical effects.

Second Player:

This hinges on getting past shields and doing critical damage. Dodonna's Pride is an obvious option, but you need more punch than just that. Wave 2's new Assault Proton Torpedoes do much the same thing, and will always go through. Maximize squadrons with BOMBER ability, like X-Wings, and B-Wings. Focus on a single target at a time to strip shields, do damage (preferably with Critical Results), and flip that damage for bonus objective points. Ensure your own ships have enough shields and defense tokens to weather a crit or two without suffering a faceup card.

First Player:

You have shields, you have the ability to do critical damage, and you have BOMBERS. And more importantly you are very sure that you can deal with a large enemy squadron cluster that will be bearing down on your ships. A smaller, greater numbers of ships will also be helpful, as there will be less hull, and more chances to flip cards with more attacks.

Both Players:

Be ready to pounce on any ship that finds itself without shields or with damage cards already dealt. Getting one damage dice across onto an enemy in that scenario is a solid 15 points at the end of the game, even if it is a sub-optimal shot. Don't be afraid to hold some bombers in reserve to take advantage of a sudden breakthrough. Major Rhymer and Admiral Chirpy both allow for extra flexibility in this. Building at least one ship for squadron command is likely a good idea. Don't be afraid to ram a larger ship if you'll have more activations and playing from behind - you will get more chances to flip the face down card especially if it is one that flips face down again.

Wrap up:

That's it for this article. Feel free to discuss strategies and list building ideas in the comments. Next time I will discuss Defense Objectives; Fleet Ambush; Fire Lanes; Hyperspace Assault; and Contested Outpost.